Free trade is fair because it is lawful, profitable and accessible for every country. It exists within trade agreements between countries which are signed on voluntarily basis. Nothing can stop two countries from establishing free trade zones.

Free trade focuses on the reduction of barriers and policies that favor certain countries or industries. Fair trade, however, favors the rights of workers, improved working conditions and seeks to eliminate pay discrepancies from country to country.

Free trade promotes fairness. When everyone follows the same rules-based system, there is less opportunity for cronyism, or the ability of participating nations to skew trade advantages toward favored parties.

Yet, the entire point of trade is that the process is not fair. It is the trade which looks the most unfair that creates the most benefits because the potential gains are the largest. Imposing tariffs to offset such cost differences, however, removes the entire incentive for trade, thereby impoverishing all countries.

Any trade agreement will allow less successful companies to withdraw from their operations. They cannot compete with a more powerful industry abroad. If the protection rates are removed, they lose their price advantage. When they stop their work, workers will lose their jobs.

The Disadvantages of Free Trade

• Massive Job Losses. As trade barriers are eliminated, certain goods may be cheaper to obtain overseas than to make domestically.
• Predatory Pricing.
• Increased Vulnerability.
• New Industries Can’t Develop.
• Tax Troubles.

Under a free trade policy, goods and services can be bought and sold across international borders with little or no government tariffs, quotas, subsidies, or prohibitions to inhibit their exchange. The concept of free trade is the opposite of trade protectionism or economic isolationism.

Nations engaging in free trade allow companies to import resources or goods from international countries with no government restrictions or tariffs. Governments placing restrictions or tariffs on imported goods often increase a company’s cost of doing business in the domestic economic market.

A free trade area (FTA) is where there are no import tariffs or quotas on products from one country entering another. Examples of free trade areas include: SAFTA: South Asian Free Trade Area comprising Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

A free trade area is a grouping of countries within which tariffs and non-tariff trade barriers between the members are generally abolished but with no common trade policy toward non-members. The North American Free Trade Area (NAFTA) and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) are examples of free trade areas.

Examples of regional trade agreements include the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Central American-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR), the European Union (EU) and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).

Free trade promotes innovation because, along with goods and services, the flow of trade circulates new ideas. Clearly, removing counterproductive barriers to competition, such as quotas and tariffs that limit access and competition, is both good economic policy and good public policy.